Ticket rush expected for Paul McCartney concert

12,600 tickets for July 5 show may go in a flash

Steve Barnes and Amy Biancoll, Times Union

By Steve Barnes and Amy Biancolli

Updated 10:52 am, Wednesday, April 9, 2014

FILE - In this May 18, 2013 file photo, Paul McCartney performs during the first U.S concert of his "Out There!" world tour in Orlando, Fla.McCartney will perform at the iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas next month. Clear Channel said Wednesday, Aug. 14, that the former Beatle will perform on the second night of the two-day festival, which kicks off Sept. 20. He joins a list of top performers, including Justin Timberlake, Elton John, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars and Drake. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File) ORG XMIT: NYET230

FILE - In this May 18, 2013 file photo, Paul McCartney performs...

Times Union Center GM Bob Belber announced that Paul McCartney will perform at the Times Union Center on Saturday, July 5, as part of his "Out There" tour Tuesday afternoon, April 8, 2014, during a news conference at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

AEG Live VP Debra Rathwell, left, Times Union Center GM Bob Belber and Albany County Exec. Dan McCoy, right, speak during a news conference Tuesday April 8, 2014, at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., where they announced a July 5 performance by Paul McCartney at the Times Union Center during McCartney?s "Out There" tour. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union
(John Carl D'Annibale)

Albany County Exec. Dan McCoy, left, and Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, right, announced that Paul McCartney will perform at the Times Union Center on Saturday, July 5, as part of his "Out There" tour Tuesday April 8, 2014, during a news conference at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan speaks during an announcement that Paul McCartney will perform at the Times Union Center on Saturday, July 5, as part of his "Out There" tour Tuesday afternoon, April 8, 2014, during a news conference at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

AEG Live VP Debra Rathwell and Albany County Exec. Dan McCoy, right, listen to a video during an announcement that Paul McCartney will perform at the Times Union Center on Saturday, July 5, as part of his "Out There tour" Tuesday afternoon, April 8, 2014, during a news conference at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Tickets for Paul McCartney's first Times Union Center concert are expected to sell out within minutes of going on sale at 10 a.m. Monday, according to arena officials, who announced the July 5 show Tuesday afternoon.

"Come 10 o'clock on Monday, people are going to want to have the buttons ready to push on their computer," Bob Belber, the venue's general manager, said. Tickets cost $253, $168, $99.50, $59.50 and $29.50. Belber predicted the approximately 12,600 tickets would be gone in 15 to 30 minutes. The previous record was the approximately 50,000 combined tickets sold for three Garth Brooks concerts at the arena in 1997, when all seats were priced at $17 apiece. They were gone in 20 minutes.

"(McCartney) is pop-music royalty and a rock 'n' roll icon the world over," said Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, who officially unveiled McCartney's name at Tuesday's news conference.

Arena officials had fueled a day's worth of speculation with a cryptic news release sent Monday that said, "This major event will be the biggest Albany has seen in over a decade."

The guessing ended Tuesday morning when media outlets in Louisville, Ky., reported Albany was one three of U.S. dates for McCartney being announced Tuesday for his 2014 "Out There" tour, along with Louisville and New Orleans.

The tour is also visiting Chile, Peru, Japan and South Korea from April through July.

"It is a brand-new show with him performing not only one hour ,but hours of material spanning his entire career," said Debra Rathwell, senior vice president of AEG Live, the tour's promoter.

She said she did not yet know all of the American dates on the tour, but there will be no others in New York state.

Belber said the booking was the result of almost three months of negotiations with AEG Live and Barry Marshall, McCartney's agent.